


Kittens and Vine, They Must Be a Sign!

by karasunovolleygays



Series: Valentine's Kisses 2020 [48]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, First Date, First Kiss, Very minor Current Manga Spoilers, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22796818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karasunovolleygays/pseuds/karasunovolleygays
Summary: The subject of her first taste of inter-school rivalry AND her favorite Vine end up on the same bus as her. Yachi can't believe the person she's meeting is the same intimidating Ushijima Wakatoshi she remembers.
Relationships: Ushijima Wakatoshi/Yachi Hitoka
Series: Valentine's Kisses 2020 [48]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589239
Comments: 9
Kudos: 162





	Kittens and Vine, They Must Be a Sign!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lojo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lojo/gifts).



> This was written for my 2020 Valentine's Kisses: 48. One person has to bend down in order to kiss their partner, who is standing on their tip-toes to reach their partner’s.

The news hits the Miyagi volleyball circuit like a bolt of lightning. It’s all anyone talks about at practice matches or at the gym for months. Nobody Yachi can think of  _ doesn’t _ know about it. So, what is ‘it’? 

Somehow, a Vine of pro volleyball rookie sensation Ushijima Wakatoshi shirtless and covered in a swarm of kittens has been loosed upon the world.

Objectively one of the scariest looking people she knows, Yachi still finds herself watching the clip at least once a day. It’s even downloaded onto her phone. Every time she does, an unholy squeal spills from her mouth. When she lies in bed at flailing over it, her mom smacks on the wall between their rooms and tells her to get to sleep.

Now that her third year is more over than not, Yachi needs a dose of silliness here and there to maintain her sanity. With a barrage of college applications and the looming threat of final exams, she needs all the help she can get.

On one such stressful day, Yachi is heading home from a particularly grueling practice when she decides it’s time for a little pick-me-up. Her schoolmates rely on caffeine and cramming; she prefers being clubbed over the head by cuteness.

This is the only time Yachi allows herself to let her phone play audio on the bus. The tiny little mews make it ten times more adorable. Biting her lip, she watches it five times in a row, and in the back of her mind, she wonders how many of the video’s almost 300,000 views are from her.

She’s about to put it on one last time when a voice shakes her out of her warm smile. “I didn’t know people still cared about that.”

Yachi snaps her head up, and her eyes bulge when she sees none other than Ushijima Wakatoshi sitting across from her. With a yelp, she jams her phone into her pocket and bows the best she can in a moving vehicle. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Ushijima quirks a brow. “Why are you sorry?”

Mouth opening and closing as she struggles to put into words her ingrained urge to apologize for literally anything, Yachi slaps her hands over her face and moans, “This is embarrassing.”

“O-kay.” Ushijima crosses to her side of the bus and peeks over her shoulder. “You were the Karasuno manager, right?”

Yachi squeaks in surprise when she realizes he remembers her. “Yes! No!” She sighs. “Both?”

His mouth purses in thought. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know!” She pulls the hood of her jacket over her head to hide her face. It doesn’t negate the fact that he is looking at her like she’s an idiot, but it does remove the visual verification of that fact. Finally, she clarifies, “Yes, I was a manager for Karasuno when you were a third year. I just retired after the Spring High, in fact.”

When Yachi peeks out from her hood of safety, she finds Ushijima scratching at his temple. “You don’t say what you mean much, do you?”

Yachi shrivels at his words. While he is certainly right — her words betray her on a regular basis when talking around anyone she doesn’t know well — but coming from him, it’s almost smacks of an accusation.

She feels him move next to her, and when she drops the hood to investigate, Yachi finds him slouched back in the seat, subtly knocking the back of his head on the window behind him. “Why do I keep saying things like that?” 

“What?” Her hands fly into action, and she slides the first notebook she fishes from her backpack and slides it behind Ushijima’s head to soften the blows. “Please don’t do that, Ushijima-san. I would probably die if you hurt yourself because of me.”

His head reclined against her notebook, Ushijima chortles. “Oh, it doesn’t hurt. My physical memory is a lot better than my regular memory, so if I want to remind myself of something, I associate some sort of physical sensation with it.”

“Oh!” Yachi moves the notebook and turns to him, beaming. “I’m the same way with colors! I color code my notes so I can remember types of information. Yellow is an event, pink is a place, green is a date, blue is a person. I remember the pattern they make in my notes before I actually remember what the notes even say.”

Ushijima sits up straighter, interest piqued. “I say things I mean but in the worst way possible, so it sounds passive aggressive.”

“I say things in the worst way possible and it makes me sound like an imbecile.” Yachi slaps a hand over her mouth and giggles. “I never thought I’d have anything in common with someone like you. That’s really cool.”

At last, a hint of a smile lingers on his lips. “Just so you know, the video was taken at a photoshoot. They picked some pro players to pose for a calendar being sold for an animal rights fundraiser. One of the other guys managed to smuggle in his phone and recorded me trying to figure out how I’m supposed to look sexy covered in baby cats. I still don’t know how they managed to get a good shot.”

A loud snort slips out of Yachi before she can stop it. “Oh my god!” She replays the video once again, still cued up on her phone, and watches it with this new information in mind. 

She doesn’t know how he isn’t aware that the sexy part is his look of joy when their little paws wander across his taut muscles. Someone as grim-looking as he is most of the time, it’s an incredible gift to see. 

With a shrug, she says, “Well, kittens are cute and nice, you’re good looking. That would do it.”

“Oh.” Ushijima shakes his head. “I guess I don’t see the appeal, but the director of the project said the video actually tripled preorders, so that’s good, I suppose.”

_ Make that one more,  _ she mentally adds before putting her phone away. “You’re probably tired of seeing that video everywhere. At least you’re not too embarrassed to leave your house. I would never see the light of day again.”

A corner of his mouth twitches upward. “I wouldn’t say that. Being covered in kittens would be cute on you.”

Yachi’s face roasts as the unexpected compliment sinks in. Of all the embarrassing things she’s said, done, and heard, this is by far the strangest reason for her to melt on the inside. Ushijima implied that she is or would be in any way cute, and the knowledge makes her heart beat a little too loud, a little too fast.

“By the way, what was your name?” 

His simple query snaps Yachi out of her flustered coma. “Oh, yeah! Yachi Hitoka.” She extends a hand to shake. “It’s nice to meet you in person. Plus, you’re not as scary when you’re sitting down.” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “That’s not what I wanted to say. You’re not scary anymore.”

An almost musical laugh comes in reply. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m scary anymore. Also, I’ve been told by short people that I ‘loom’, so don’t worry about that.” His gaze darts back and forth, all about the bus cab — anywhere but at her. Yachi is about to start writhing in her seat at the silence until he says, “I’m not good at this kind of thing, but I came over to talk to you because I think you’re cute.”

“Me?” Yachi gasps and gawks at him. “That’s very sweet of you to say, Ushijima-san. Surprising, but sweet.” Despite her words, she can’t help the smile that starts creeping onto her lips. 

Ushijima nods (for what, she has no idea). “Thank you. I think.” His brow creases in thought once again before he says, “Yachi-san, I think you’re very nice. Can I give you my number? I would enjoy seeing you again.”

Relief floods Yachi’s entire being at his offer. She is so racked with nerves that if he asked her for her wallet, she would probably give it to him, let alone her number. This way, she can accept it and wait until her brain stops boiling to figure out what she wants to do with it.

It’s not difficult to say at all, “I’d like that.”

She offers him her scribble pad (for information to be properly sorted at a later time), and he jots down his phone number in neat, uniform handwriting.

The bus starts shuddering to a stop, and Ushijima stands. “This is my stop. It’s nice meeting you, Yachi-san.”

“It really has,” she replies before groaning out loud. “You know what I mean.”

“I’ll manage.” 

He watches her as the bus pulls away, and she watches him right back, long after the stop vanishes into the distance. 

So that happened. She had somehow managed to mingle with the strongest human being she’s ever met in person and lives to tell the tale. To top that off, she is pretty sure, with his number simmering in her bag, she wants to do it again.

  
  


Surprise #1: Ushijima is both a very good and a terrible texter.

Yachi can’t help but giggle when he sends his first reply to her initial text. Everything is absolutely correct. Nothing is spelled out in kana because it’s easier, complete with proper punctuation — much like her own texting habits before being deadened to bad grammar by Hinata and Kageyama.

Surprise #2: He has never taken a selfie before.

_ Do you have a picture you can send that I can use for your contact photo, or should I just Google one? _ Yachi messages.

The reply is not immediate, and she can’t help but giggle when she realizes why that is when she receives it.  _ Why would I have a picture of myself? _

She can’t help but envision him sitting there, staring at his phone as if it will enlighten him as to the purpose of this bizarre ritual, finally asking her when he fails. Kageyama had been much the same until she flummoxed him with the simple logic of ‘because your friends can think about you when you’re not around’. 

Ushijima will probably be less of a difficult case, Yachi thinks. He’s a logical person, even if he is proving to be an oblivious one. 

Surprise #3: He does, however, have a  _ lot _ of pictures of his dog.

Somehow, the discussion of The Kittens rambles into one about pets, and her phone sends an alert every thirty seconds, a new photo arriving until she can make a calendar of her own.

_ He’s beautiful,  _ she finally replies once she’s sure the photospam has stopped. Kengo, Ushijima’s first and only pet he’s ever had, poses for the camera like he’s aware of how much his human loves snapping photos of him.

All of this colludes to make Ushijima possibly the most adorable human being on the planet that nobody realizes is that cute.

After sending a couple selfies of herself that her support squad (consisting mainly of Hinata and Yamaguchi) insists are not utter trash, Ushijima finally sends her one in return. She laughs out loud when she sees it.

He’s scowling at the front-facing camera he no doubt did not know he had until right then, as if he’s still trying to figure out how it works. Yachi immediately sets it as his contact picture, since after a few days getting to know him, it’s the most accurate one he could possibly send.

Once she is fairly certain her awkwardness hasn’t scared him off, Yachi composes and deletes the same message over and over until she finally sends it.  _ Equinox Day is coming up. Do you want to meet up and do something? _

The reply is almost immediate.  _ I have practice until noon, but I’m free afterward. I would enjoy that very much. _

Clutching her phone to her chest, Yachi squeals and bounces in the desk chair in her room. Her cheer lasts as long as it takes her to realize she has to figure out what they might be doing, what she is going to wear, and where they’re going to meet.

Yachi launches out of her chair and flits from her closet and her laptop over and over until she tries to do a browser search on the top of her chest of drawers. “One at a time,” she chants to herself. 

After a few minutes of perusal, she unearths a dress she rarely wears and doesn’t know why, a knee-length purple jersey knit and a black shrug, along with matching leggings. 

It’s something one might wear at a nice-ish restaurant, though she has no intention of suggesting one. She would never expect him to pay for something that nice, and if he expects  _ her _ to pay since it’s her suggestion, she certainly doesn’t have that kind of pocket money.

Out of ideas she hasn’t overthought to death, she asks him,  _ What would you like to do? _

_ That is a good question, _ he answers.  _ When I was in school, things the other guys thought were fun were chasing girls and trying to smuggle liquor into the dorms. I don’t think either of us would enjoy that very much. _

“Oh my god!” Yachi cries aloud, sprawling out in her chair. “He is the cutest person who ever cuted! How am I supposed to deal with this?” She perks up when she remembers that she does have at least one regular guy friend who isn’t ignorant or disdainful of pop culture.

_ I need your help, _ she messages Yamaguchi.  _ What do people our age do for fun on a date? I’ve never done this before. _

Yamaguchi replies at warp speed.  _ I’ll help as long as you tell me everything. _

Yachi agrees and then highlights her recent contact with Ushijima, starting with the kittens up through the failed selfie. Once her messages stop, Yamaguchi doesn’t answer for almost ten minutes. 

She starts fidgeting when the thought she might have annoyed him surfaces, but at last, an answer comes. Well, sort of.  _ You mean to tell me you’re going on a date with Ushiwaka? _

Glaring at her phone, she texts,  _ THAT’S your takeaway? I just want to know what normal people do for fun. I organize stationery, but something tells me it’s not his kind of thing. _

_ Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry, _ Yamaguchi answers.  _ It’s just surprising. How about the zoo? _

Yachi sits up straight at that suggestion. Ushijima clearly likes animals, Yachi likes them from afar, she can wear something cute but not elaborate, it’s not expensive, and it’s a good way for her to help Ushijima hone his photography skills.

_ That’s perfect. Thanks, Tadashi! I owe you one. _

_ No, you owe me details, but good luck! _

Armed with at least a workable idea, Yachi messages Ushijima,  _ If there isn’t anything in particular you want to do, how about going to the zoo? They’re open until seven, and then we can do dinner after. _

A reply comes, but it isn’t text; it’s another (less terrible) selfie with him giving her a thumbs-up.

Launching from her chair, she runs through the apartment, yelling, “Mom! I need advice on girl stuff!”

  
  


With their homes fairly close together and hers closest to a bus stop, Ushijima comes to collect her for their first official date. At exactly three, the designated arrival time, Yachi hears the buzzer go off after staring at it for a solid five minutes in wait.

“Be right out!” 

From her bedroom, where she is working despite it being a holiday, Yachi Madoka calls out, “Don’t be out past ten! I know you don’t have school tomorrow, but you have that interview in the morning for Tohoku.”

“I won’t!” Yachi shouts before slamming the door behind her. She sprints down the hall, made possible by her last minute decision to wear a pair of comfortable flats. While she would’ve liked to have the additional height provided by wedge heels so Ushijima wouldn’t be so much taller than her, the thought of walking around relentlessly with them on prompted a change of tactics.

She opens the lobby door to the building, and her breath catches when she sees Ushijima. A charcoal sports jacket sits over a plum-colored button-up shirt with the first few buttons undone, and long legs are sheathed by well cut black trousers.

“Wow you are pretty,” she blurts, slapping a hand over her face when he chuckles at her.

“So are you.” Ushijima offers an arm, and she takes it. “Shall we?”

Grinning and hoping she doesn’t look like a complete jackass, Yachi takes the proffered arm and says, “We shall.”

Once they arrive at the bus stop, the line downtown set to arrive in about fifteen minutes, Yachi scours her brain to fill the silence. She isn’t uncomfortable with it, but she has no idea whether he is.

Why does she always say the first thing that comes to mind? “So I guess we match today.” Yachi hopes Ushijima doesn’t see her eyes screaming after the comment.

Instead, he shrugs. “Purple is my favorite color. I did have to enlist a friend of mine to figure out what I’m supposed to wear. Outside of a school uniform, I haven’t worn anything but polos, jeans, and gym clothes in years.”

Yachi gasps. “But you look so good! The way everything fits, you could’ve walked right out of a magazine.”

Ushijima’s cheeks redden, and the sight makes Yachi’s heart stutter. “Thank you.” When his unusual bout of embarrassment passes, he adds, “I think you’re lovely today, Yachi-san.”

Now they’re both blushing

Nonetheless, Yachi wraps her arms around Ushijima’s bicep and rests her cheek against his shoulder. “I’m already having a good time, and we haven’t even left yet,” she admits.

“Agreed.”

Soon their bus arrives, and they stand together because all the seats are full, with Yachi clinging to a pole while Ushijima holds onto one of the overhead loops. 

More than a few elbows buffet her as people shuffle to fit more inside, but when they catch a glimpse of Ushijima staring them down, Yachi soon finds her personal bubble magically restored. The anxiety induced by the crush starts to leach from her shoulders, especially when she sees they’re two stops away from their destination.

Ushijima extends an arm at the top of the stairs leading off the bus to block everyone else from exiting until Yachi is safe on the pavement. She notices that no one complains about it when they catch a glance at his powerful frame.

They’re walking the last half a kilometer to the zoo arm in arm when Ushijima stops short. “Does that happen to you often?”

She gives him a wan smile. “Yeah, basically. I’m small, even for a girl, so people don’t see me before they plow into me.”

His eyes narrow. “They can see you. They just don’t care.” She can see him grind his teeth. “I’ve never thought about it before, but now I can’t unsee it.”

Yachi shrugs. “Eh, people suck sometimes. I’m just glad I’m not hurt and move on.”

Ushijima doesn’t like that answer, she can tell, but he leaves it at that. However, the thought of Ushijima Wakatoshi, Bus Feminist, makes her giggle while they finish their trek.

Before she can dig her wallet out of her purse, Ushijima pays admission. It’s only ¥400 a head, but the gesture was polite nonetheless.

The zoo is fairly busy, as many kids are home from school for the day, but it’s not so bustling that the Bus Incident threatens to rear its head again. 

Yachi is elated to find that someone other than herself stops to read every placard talking about that particular species. They take turns Google searching the more technical words, and apparently they both have an opinion about birds in general — eww — so they skip that exhibit altogether.

They linger in the polar exhibit, both of them watching a group of baby penguins, just hatched a month before with their awkward shapes and ruffled feathers. Yachi nearly squeaks with joy when the trainer offers to let some of the spectators throw fish to the penguins.

With a gloved hand, she holds her breath while tossing a smelt toward one of the smaller penguins. She gets to throw about three before it’s someone else’s turn, but she’s practically vibrating with joy as they move on to the next exhibit.

“You looked like you were enjoying that,” Ushijima marks once they arrive at the maze of fish tanks. “Are penguins your favorite?”

Nodding, Yachi sighs. “They’re so cute, and there’s so many different kinds of them, which are also cute.” She looks up at him. “So which one is your favorite?”

“Pumas,” he answers without hesitation. “They’re fast, powerful, and self sufficient.”

The answer suits him, she thinks, and she bites back a grin as they read display after display about the fish on display.

It’s half an hour until closing time when they call it quits. Latecomers start swarming to catch all of the exhibits before the zoo closes, so they decide to go straight to dinner.

“What sort of place would you like to eat at?” Ushijima asks. “I’m not picky. I’ll eat anything.”

Yachi scrunches her brows, forgetting everything she has ever enjoyed consuming as soon as she tries to remember it. Finally, she says, “I don’t know. Do you want to walk around until we find something?”

Ushijima nods in affirmation, and they do just that. It’s just before the usual dinner rush, so when they find a sushi house with good reviews, their server shows them to a nice, cozy corner of the dining room.

Both of them sip on their teas, and Yachi swears she catches Ushijima looking at her in a strange way when he thinks she doesn’t notice. As she is wont to do when she’s around Ushijima, she asks, “Something on your mind?”

“Yes, actually.” He sets down his tea and crosses his arms on the table. “When I asked some of my teammates how to act around girls, they almost all said girls are hard to deal with, even if they are nice. I have no idea what they mean, because you’re the easiest person I’ve been around in a long time. I’m starting to think they’re just bad at it.”

Yachi spits her tea back into her cup at the comment and laughs into her hands. “Oh my god. I would pay money to watch you say that to them.”

Ushijima’s fingers drum on the table before he says, “Well, you don’t really need to pay money for that. We have a dinner thing coming up to welcome the new guys on the team in early April. If you’re interested, I would be honored to have you accompany me.”

_ He wants a second date, _ her brain screams. Somehow, in all of her awkwardness and general nerdy behavior, Yachi has managed not to alienate her first proper suitor. “I would love to,” she answers truthfully.

“I’ll send you the details when I get home.” 

Right then, their orders arrive, and most of their meal passes in companionable silence. Yachi isn’t surprised at how much food Ushijima can put away, but she is in awe of it. After years of working with teenage boy athletes, though, it’s endearing now. He has more muscles in one leg than she has in her whole body, so it’s only fitting he has to feed them accordingly.

Once they’re both full, Ushijima swoops into pay the bill again. This time, he explains, “It’s only fair, since I ate a lot more than you did.”

“I wouldn’t have minded.” Yachi lets him pull out her chair and drape her shrug back over her shoulders. “The only person I’ve ever seen look at food with such appreciation is Kageyama-kun. At training camp our first year, he tried to scarf too much barbecue and almost choked to death. Akaashi-san rescued him.” She giggles at the memory, which melts into a sigh. “I’m going to miss those guys a lot.”

Ushijima nods as she takes his arm. “You will, but anything worth having is worth finding time for.”

“I agree.” Yachi leans into his side as they wander back toward the bus stop in no particular hurry at all.

When they’re one stop away from where they would exit, Ushijima touches her shoulder gently. “If we get off here, we can walk through the park.”

“Oh!” Yachi flushes even as she says, “I’d like that. Good thing I didn’t wear idiot shoes.” When he eyes her in bemusement, she holds up her leg and explains, “No heels.”

Understanding dawns, and then they slink off the bus, the stop almost vacant due to its proximity to nearby Shiratorizawa High School. The streetlamps lining the sidewalks wending their way through the park give the grounds an almost ethereal quality as they glow against the budding sakura trees.

“It’s so beautiful.” Yachi inhales the sweet scent of cherry blossoms while Ushijima steers them toward the nearest sidewalk. “I almost forgot to say it, but thank you for taking me out tonight, Ushijima-san. You’re really nice.”

Ushijima chortles. “I know a few people who would disagree with you, but I appreciate it. You have a good mind, and you’re fun to be around.”

They stop in the heart of the park, an evening breeze kicking up a swirl of stray petals, and Yachi thinks it might be the prettiest picture she’ll never take. She doesn’t have to, because the sight is not one she’s going to forget. 

And she really wishes he would kiss her now.

It’s going to happen; she feels it in her bones. In anticipation, she lofts herself on tiptoes to make up some of the huge gap in their heights, but it’s still not enough to keep him from having to bend over entirely.

An idea sparks. Yachi takes both of Ushijima’s hands and leads him toward a nearby landscaping stone. She hops up on it, and suddenly, they’re eye to eye and she doesn’t have to wait for him to make a move.

Ushijima’s lips are firm, much like the rest of him, but warm. Are they doing it right? Yachi has no idea, but a giddy flutter dances in her belly as his arms slide around her waist.

She’s grinning and beet red at the same time, but she doesn’t care. The most unlikely suspect for making her first date a wonderful and memorable in all the right way regards her with an expression she knows now is contentment, when he’s at his most relaxed. Yachi wonders how many people are fortunate enough to understand this side of Ushijima Wakatoshi.

For now, she likes to think it’s only for her.

It’s quarter to ten when Ushijima holds open her building’s front door for her, and he stays until she makes it into the apartment and waves at him from the window.

Yachi throws herself onto her bed and sighs out loud. “I can’t believe he’s the same guy.” When a thought trickles into her head, she sits bolt upright and frantically searches for her phone. “I almost forgot.” She shoots a quick text to Yamaguchi, informing him that she has arrived home safe and sound. 

Yamaguchi picks at her for details, which she happily provides, but their kiss in the park, she keeps to herself. Not because she doesn’t trust Yamaguchi with the information, but she still isn’t fully convinced everything that happened that night is real. A bubble can pop and the dream is over.

But it doesn’t. One day turns into two and then three, which stretches into a week, and the memory is still very much alive and lucid as the moment it happened.

The night of the welcome dinner rolls around, and Yachi is dressed to impress, as is Ushijima. This time, they head for the event in the back of a taxi, and Yachi is certainly wearing idiot shoes.

She nearly laughs out loud when they arrive, once she gets a good look at the Schweiden Adlers’ highly touted new signee gawking at them with bald shock. With a wave, she says, “Hello, Kageyama-kun! It’s very nice to see you.”

He doesn’t answer (she isn’t even sure he can), but she nudges Ushijima’s side and chortles. “I told you it would be funny.” 

“I never doubted it,” Ushijima agrees, and Yachi can’t help but remind herself to throw in a few extra coins at the shrine come New Years. There are many things she’s thankful for, but this time, she’ll throw in one coin for every kitten that brought them together.


End file.
